VLED solid state watch

Claim 2

An electronic timepiece in which display elements are energized to display time which is comprised of: a. oscillator means for generating electrical time base pulses of a predetermined frequency; b. means coupled to said oscillator means including a plurality of counter means driven by said time base pulses for counting said time base pulses and for producing counter outputs indicative of the second, minute and hour, each of said counter means including a pair of counters with one counter in each pair being a base-six counter serially connected to a second counter with the second counters for seconds and minutes being base-ten counters and with the second counter for hours being a base-two counter; c. means including sequential enabling means coupled to said counter means for multiplexing said counter outputs; d. a plurality of display elements each having first and second terminals arranged in predetermined patterns with twelve display elements in a first of said patterns for individually indicating one of 12 hours and 60 display elements in a second of said patterns for individually indicating one of 60 minutes and alternately one of 60 seconds, groups of said display elements of said second pattern being interconnected at one terminal thereof by common interconnects to form ten groups of six elements and the other terminal of each of said display elements of said second pattern being connected to one of six conductors in the order of each Nth element of each group connected to the Nth conductor; and e. a plurality of sets of drivers with a first of said sets selectively coupling said counter outputs to said common interconnects and a second set selectively coupling said counter outputs to said six conductors to selectively display hours, minutes and seconds in accordance with the multiplexing of said counter outputs.

Claim 3

The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 wherein said six conductors are coupled to the counter outputs of both the second and minute base-six counters by means of said second set of drivers and wherein the common interconnects of each of said groups are coupled to the second and minute base-ten counters by means of said first set of drivers.

Claim 4

The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 wherein the first terminal of each of said display elements of said first pattern are interconnected to form two groups of six elements and the other terminal of each of said display elements of said first pattern are connected to one of a second set of six conductors in the order of each Nth element of each of said two groups connected to the Nth conductor of said second set.

Claim 5

The electronic timppiece according to claim 3 wherein said six conductors of said second set are coupled to the output of said base-six hour counter by means of said second set of drivers and said two groups are individually connected to the output of said base-two hour counter by means of another set of drivers.

Claim 6

The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 wherein said first and second patterns of display elements are generally in the shape of concentric rings.

Claim 7

The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 wherein said display elements are comprised of visual light-emitting diodes.

Claim 8

The electronic timepiece according to claim 6 wherein said display elements further include cone-shaped optical reflectors filled with a diffusion medium with a small diameter end of each reflector adjacent to one of said light-emitting diodes and a large diameter end interfacing with a timepiece face.

Claim 9

The electronic timepiece according to claim 7 wherein said diffusion medium includes a mixture of an epoxy base material with an index of about 1.52 and a plurality of concordial-shaped pyrex particles with an index of about 1.47.

Claim 10

The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 wherein said counter means, sequential enabling means and drIvers comprise an integrated circuit.

Claim 11

The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 wherein said means including sequential enabling means multiplexes said counter outputs at a sufficiently high rate to energize said display elements so that said display elements visually appear to indicate the hour, minute and second simultaneously.

Claim 12

The electronic timepiece according to claim 10 wherein said sequential enabling means is coupled to and driven by said oscillator means.

Claim 13

An electronic timepiece in which display elements are energized to display time which is comprised of: a. oscillator means for generating electrical time base pulses of a predetermined frequency; b. means coupled to said oscillator means including a plurality of cascaded counter means driven by said time base pulses for counting said time base pulses and for producing counter outputs indicative of the second, minute and hour, each of said counter means including a pair of counters with one counter in each pair being a base-six counter serially connected to a second counter with the second counters for seconds and minutes being base-ten counters and the second counter for hours being a base-two counter; c. a plurality of display elements each having first and second terminals arranged in predetermined patterns with twelve display elements in a first of said patterns for individually indicating one of twelve hours and sixty display elements in a second of said patterns for individually indicating one of sixty minutes and alternately one of sixty seconds, groups of said display elements of said second pattern being interconnected at one terminal thereof by common interconnects to form ten groups of six elements, groups of said display elements of said first pattern being interconnected at one terminal thereof by common interconnects to form two groups of six elements and the other termianl of each of said display elements of said first and second patterns being connected to one of six conductors in the order of each Nth element of each group connected to the Nth conductor; and d. a plurality of sets of drivers with a first set of drivers coupling the respective outputs of each of said base-ten counters to a respective one of the common interconnects to said first pattern of elements, a second set of drivers coupling the outputs of said base-two counter to a respective one of the common interconnects to said first pattern of elements and a third set of drivers coupling the respective outputs of each of said base-six counters to respective ones of said six conductors to selectively display hours, minutes and seconds.

Claim 14

An electronic timepiece in which display elements are energized to display time which is comprised of: a. oscillator means for generating electrical time base pulses of a predetermined frequency; b. means coupled to said oscillator means including a plurality of cascaded counter means driven by said time base pulses for counting said time base pulses and for producing counter outputs indicative of the second, minute and hour, each of said counter means including a pair of counters with one counter in each pair being a base-six counter serially connected to a second counter with the second counters for seconds and minutes being base-ten counters and the second counter for hours being a base-two counter; c. a plurality of display elements each having first and second terminals arranged in predetermined patterns with twelve display elements in a first of said patterns for individually indicating one of twelve hours and sixty display elements in a second of said patterns for individually indicating one of sixty minutes and alternately one of sixty seconds, groups of said display elements of said second pattern being interconnected at one terminal thereof by common interconnects to form ten groups of six elements, groups of said display elements of said first pattern being interconnected at one terminal thereof by common interconnects to form two groups of six elements and the other termianl of each of said display elements of said first and second patterns being connected to one of six conductors in the order of each Nth element of each group connected to the Nth conductor; and d. a plurality of sets of drivers with a first set of drivers coupling the respective outputs of each of said base-ten counters to a respective one of the common interconnects to said first pattern of elements, a second set of drivers coupling the outputs of said base-two counter to a respective one of the common interconnects to said first pattern of elements and a third set of drivers coupling the respective outputs of each of said base-six counters to respective ones of said six conductors to selectively display hours, minutes and seconds.

Claim 15

The electronic timepiece according to claim 12 including means including selective enabling means for multiplexing the outputs of said counter means to said drivers.